Principal's Message

Dear Families, Students and Community Members,

Road Safety

Unfortunately, we continue to see a large number of families ignoring road rules out the front of the school, before and after school when dropping students off or picking them up, which is compromising the safety of our students and your children. 

Key road safety reminders:

• It is not appropriate to complete a 3 point turn out the front of the school during heavy traffic
• Cars should not stop on the road to allow their child to exit or enter the car – please ensure you use the parking bays only.
• Do not park across driveways or on the nature strip
• The speed limit on Connaught Road is 40km/h 
• Always watch for pedestrians who maybe crossing the road

Our school has plenty of off-street parking along our entire boundary, please consider meeting your child, or dropping them off, further away from the schools’ front entrance, this will only require a short walk for them and ensure a smooth flow of traffic for both families and the local community. As a school community we all need to work together to ensure the safety of our students before and after school.

General tips to support your child's learning

Students are more successful in school when parents take an active interest in their learning — it shows them that what they do is important.

Tips for parents and carers on how to best support their child's learning at home.

• Ask your child what they’re learning at school and if they have any assignments or homework.
• Ask your child if there’s anything they don’t understand and work with them on it at home.
• Be aware that children may have short attention spans and low energy at the end of the day. Aim for short, regular homework sessions, ideally a little everyday.
• Consider the use of a term assessment planner to schedule assignments and homework. Break down tasks and make ‘to-do’ lists to spread out the workload.
• Encourage your child to start assignments as soon as they receive them. This will reduce any night-before stress.
• Have a set place where children can do their homework. Collect any equipment they’ll need, such as pens and pencils, highlighters, scissors, glue, scrap paper, ruler, calculator, printing paper, computer and internet access, and a printer.

Homework: the basics

Homework can take many forms. 

Secondary school students are likely to get homework tasks or assignments for each subject. These might be maths activities, writing tasks, research projects, practical or creative tasks and so on.

Academic benefits of homework?

As children get older, homework does have academic benefits – there’s a strong link between homework and achievement for children in secondary school.

Other benefits of homework

In general, homework can help your child:

• practice and get better at skills they’re learning in class
• Study and revise key topics
• get ready for the next day’s work
• learn how to manage longer research or creative projects
• learn to manage their time, work to deadlines, and balance work and play.

Homework has benefits for parents too – it gives you the chance to see what your child is learning at school. Showing interest in your child’s homework is a great way to let your child know that you value learning and education. And this helps your child to develop a positive attitude towards school and learning.

Parents and Parent Teacher interviews

Information was sent out to all families via Compass but, I would like to include a reminder in this newsletter about our arrangements for our upcoming Parent Teacher interviews for Years 7’s to be held on Thursday 5th September from 3:30pm to 7:15pm and again on Friday 6th September from 9:15am to 1pm.

On site classes will not run on Friday as students are expected to attend the interviews with their parent/s. Students must attend their interview with a parent, or adult member of their family.

Bookings are now open through Compass for you to book interviews with teachers. If you encounter any problems logging into Compass, please contact the College General Office on 8001 3333.

Kind Regards, 

Mr. Simon Haber

College Principal

As a staff team we are committed to providing a diverse and inclusive school with our students and your children.  We encourage you to partner with us as we build our high expectations for our school community as a whole.  Your feedback is always welcome and I can be contacted on 03 8001 3333 or via email at Brinbeal.SC@education.vic.gov.au